COLUMBIA, S.C. (ABP) — A federal judge ruled Nov. 10 that a South Carolina license plate featuring a cross, stained-glass window and the words "I Believe" violates the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said a 2008 law that sailed through the state Legislature creating the Christian-themed plates "amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular."
A federal judge ruled that a Christian-themed license plate in South Carolina "amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular."
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A 57-page ruling by the same judge who previously issued a temporary injunction halting the plate's production last December said the case "presents a textbook example of the need for and continued vitality of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment."
Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit challenging the plates on behalf of three South Carolina pastors, a rabbi and the Hindu American Foundation.
Barry Lynn, AU's executive director, praised the decision. "Government must never be allowed to express favored treatment for one faith over others," Lynn said. "That's unconstitutional and un-American."
Supporters of the license plate, initiated by Lt. Gov. André Bauer (R) after a similar effort failed in Florida, said it was an accommodation to Christians, no different than 200 other specialty plates sponsored by organizations like colleges, sororities, the Boy Scouts and even a secular humanist organization.
The judge, however, said unlike the other specialty plates — where a sponsoring organization pays $4,000 start-up cost to create a plate and finds at least 400 people to buy one — the "I Believe" tag was a result of a legislative process, and did not go through the normal process in place for approving specialty plates through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
She said the law establishing the tag, which stipulates that it "must" carry the pro-Christian message, "gives the impression that Christianity, as the majority religion, is also the preferred religion and its adherents favored citizens."
Hollyn Hollman, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, applauded the decision.
"Religion never benefits when government starts picking certain groups to receive special treatment," Hollman said. "That's precisely what was going on in South Carolina."
Bauer released a statement Nov. 10 saying he was "disappointed" by the ruling.
"For those who say proclaiming 'I believe' violates the Constitution by giving preference to Christianity, I think this lawsuit clearly discriminates against persons of faith," he said. "I will ask the state Attorney General to vigorously appeal this ruling because it is time that people stand up for their beliefs. Enough is enough."
Bauer called the ruling "judicial activism" and an "attack on Christianity" and said an automobile tag is a matter of choice.
"I believe that every citizen has the constitutional protections of free speech and expression," he said. "I don’t understand why witnessing for fundamental, enduring values is controversial or threatening."
A crowd reported as more than 400 people rallied in January at People's Baptist Church in Greer, S.C., in support of the "I Believe" license tag, according to a report in the South Carolina Baptist Courier.
The bill's Senate co-sponsors were members of South Carolina Baptist churches. Sen. Yancey McGill, a Democrat whose district includes four counties in the eastern part of the state, is a member of First Baptist Church in Kingstree, S.C.
Sen. Larry Grooms, a Republican from Columbia who is running for governor, is a former deacon chair at First Baptist Church in St. Stephen, S.C.
Rep. Bob Walker, a Republican from Spartanburg County who pushed the legislation on the House side, is a member and deacon at First Baptist Church in Landrum, S.C.
Joe Mack, director of the office of public policy for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, wrote columns in the Baptist state newspaper endorsing the license plates.
In a Baptist Courier column dated June 9, 2008, Mack said he believed the "I Believe" license plate "to be a protected First Amendment right for anyone who chooses this new tag."
"I am thankful that we live in a state where we can publicly proclaim our belief in Christ," Mack wrote. "I appreciate living in a place where we now can pray in Jesus' name at public events and meetings without worrying about a lawsuit. We are blessed to have public servants who offer and pass legislation to make these freedoms possible."
Mack did not respond immediately to an e-mail request for comment about the ruling declaring the tag unconstitutional.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
Previous ABP story:
Judge halts Christian-themed South Carolina license plates (12/12/2008)